Pinterest's API Is Coming Soon, And VCs Are Super Excited

Digital pinboard Pinterest is going to be releasing an API very
soon, and VCs are champing at the bit to invest in startups who
will build on top of it.

Later today, I'm hosting a panel on investing in social commerce
at our Social
Commerce Summit with four venture capitalists. As prep for
the panel I spoke with the VCs, and one of the biggest takeaways
was the excitement around Pinterest.

Why are they excited about Pinterest? Because it has developed
into a site where people are aggregating products they like. And
it's driving real traffic to retail sites. However, Pinterest
hasn't been able capitalize on that interest.

When the API is available, Adam Ludwin at RRE, says he's
interested in entrepreneurs who can build on top of the platform,
who can "close the loop" and figure out a way to monetize the
interest around products on Pinterest. He's interested in
startups that will provide tools to facilitate transactions on
and through Pinterest.

Brian O'Malley at Battery
Ventures compares Pinterest today to Facebook
in 2006. It's less crowded today than it will be in the next five
years, which means it's more focused and defined, and there's
more room for startups to build interesting applications for
Pinterest.

We'll have more on Pinterest and what VCs are looking for in the
social commerce world this afternoon at the conference.